Santa Barbara County Courthouse California

The Santa Barbara County Courthouse[3] (Courthouse) is a well-known example of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and is located in Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, California.  Started in 1926 and completed in 1929, the Courthouse originally served as Santa Barbara County’s (County) superior courthouse, jail, and administrative office.  The Courthouse was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981, was made a City of Santa Barbara Historic Landmark in 1982, a California Historical Landmark in 2004, and a National Historic Landmark in 2005.  Over the years, most County administrative offices were relocated to other County buildings.  The current Courthouse houses six County Superior Court rooms, the Mural Room (formerly the Supervisors Assembly Room), the County Hall of Records,[6] the County Public Defender's Office, offices of the County General Services Department,[8] and the McMahon Law Library. The Courthouse is open to the public and is a popular site for community gatherings and weddings. Architect Charles Willard Moore called it the "grandest Spanish Colonial Revival structure ever built," and the prime example of Santa Barbara's adoption of Spanish Colonial as its civic style.

Santa Barbara County was one of the 27 original counties of California and was formed in 1850 when California became the 31st state.  The County in 1855 purchased the original Courthouse site on which stood a mercantile store called Kays Adobe.  Kays Adobe served the County as a courthouse and administrative building until it was replaced around the perimeter of the same block in 1872 with a Greek Revival style building.  The County continued to grow, and in 1900 County officials began consideration of a new courthouse.  During this period, Spanish Colonial Revival architecture was gaining popularity in California, and in 1919, the County held an architectural competition to replace the Greek Revival courthouse.  Santa Barbara was struck by an earthquake in 1925 that caused loss of life and property damage.  The 1872 Greek Revival courthouse and attendant buildings were damaged.  In 1926, the County commenced construction of the new Courthouse on the location of the 1872 courthouse.  The new Courthouse (including approximately 148,000 square feet of work space) was completed in March 1929 and dedicated on August 14, 1929.  The Courthouse included two courtrooms, the County Board of Supervisors Assembly Room, jury assembly rooms, offices for the County Auditor, the Office of the County Treasury/Tax Collector, the Superintendent of Schools, a Sheriff's Department Office, the County jail, the County Hall of Records and other administrative offices.